Obviously, the screen itself is not blank, but that it compels minimal mental activity from these viewers permits this description. According to Marie Winn, author of the book The Plug-In Drug, unlike reading where the mind is forced to formulate an image from the words that are read, TV images “do not go through a complex symbolic transformation. The mind does not have to decode and manipulate during the television experience."
Additionally, reading increases vocabulary, a skill my sister would find useful in her upcoming exams. Encarta writer, Martha Brockenbrough, says that research indicates most words are learnt from reading, not through conversation or simply hearing the words. She says that even “the language in a children's book is likely to be more sophisticated than your average conversation.”
Nevertheless, this information would not faze my sister in her fascination for the TV. That she sees value in it is certain since she tries to incorporate TV watching into her every activity. She watches TV while she does her chores and her homework (until my mother catches her and she gets into trouble for it).
While she is on the computer, she has one ear glued to the TV, which is difficult since the TV and computer are in two different rooms. She doesn’t like going to school because of all the TV shows she will miss.
She insisted, however, that she does have other interests. “I also like to go on the computer, talk on the phone, and play with the dog; so basically my life is pretty packed.”
“Too packed to read a book?” I asked with one eyebrow raised (I send her the appropriate emoticon to show my skepticism). “Yes,” she insisted, countering my skepticism with exasperation (insert eye-rolling emoticon here). “I don’t have time to read, except for in school where I have to read the board and textbooks and copy books. So, as you can see I get a good bit of reading in anyway.”
Apparently I stand corrected.
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